The Legal Regime of Land Resources as a Factor of Interstate Integration of the Member Countries of the Eurasian Economic Union

Abstract

AbstractThe article is devoted to the analysis of land legislation and the practice of its application in the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). The norms on land and other natural resources in the constitutions of the EAEU member states are considered. Legislative gaps and shortcomings of the regulatory regulation of land relations in the EAEU countries have been identified. The emphasis is placed on identifying significant problems, first of all, in the legislation of the Russian Federation. The relevant norms of Russian legislation are compared with similar norms adopted in other EAEU states. Such a comparative analysis is especially important due to the fact that interstate integration stimulates foreign investment activities, including those related to the use of land and other natural resources. There are extremely significant differences in the relevant legislation of the partner countries within the Union, while in some of them there are clear preferences for their citizens and legal entities to the detriment of residents of other EAEU states, which in modern conditions becomes unreasonable obstacles to achieving the economic goals of rapprochement of countries and the formation of a Union-wide geopolitical space. Restrictions on the rights of foreign citizens and legal entities are established in land law and in other branches of environmental management in all countries of the Union without exception. Despite the obvious relevance of this issue, nothing has yet been done within the framework of the EAEU to improve the internal systems of land and natural resource law in order to promote the economic integration of the EAEU countries. The paper identifies the relevant problems and makes recommendations to the legislators of the Union states. The article notes that common approaches to regulating the use and protection of land have already taken shape in some of the EAEU countries. Based on this, it is proposed to strengthen the role of supranational regulation of these relations within the EAEU by developing a system of international legal acts and harmonizing the national legislative systems of the member states of the Union on this issue.KeywordsHarmonization of legislationThe Eurasian Economic UnionThe EAEULand legislationJEL ClassificationO17Q2